Creamy (No Cream!) Sweet Corn and Potato Chowder is a revelation. It’s unbelievably thick and creamy, as any good chowder should be, but guess what? It’s thickened with ZERO flour and contains ZERO cream. What makes it thick and creamy? CAULIFLOWER! I’ll stop shouting now. Seriously though, the base of this chowder is made from cauliflower simmered in chicken broth then blended with milk, salt, and broth until it’s the texture of thick, whipped velvet. No flour or cream needed. Think alfredo sauce without the oof. YES!
The sauce is combined with frozen hash browns and sweet corn then simmered until everything is tender. Oh, there’s bacon involved too. Can’t have chowder without bacon. Go ahead and have seconds or thirds of this guilt-free, satisfying chowder!
Start by making the creamy cauliflower sauce. Bring 5 cups chicken broth to a boil in a Dutch oven or large soup pot then add 6 cups cauliflower florets. Place a lid on top then cook until fork tender. Make sure not to overcook the cauliflower or the sauce can end up grainy.
Meanwhile, peel and mince (or press) 3 garlic cloves then saute in 1 Tablespoon butter until golden brown. You can make this recipe dairy-free by sauteing the garlic in extra virgin olive oil instead.
Add the cooked cauliflower plus 4 cups of the cooking broth into a blender along with the garlic butter. Save the remaining cup of broth as we’ll use that in a bit.
Next add 1/2 cup milk to the blender (use whatever you’ve got on hand, including an unflavored milk alternative if you want to make it dairy-free,) along with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Pop the top on the blender blend until the sauce is very, very smooth. If you have a small blender you’ll want to do this in two batches.
Insanely creamy without the cream!
Set the cauliflower sauce aside for a bit while you saute 6 slices chopped bacon in the same pot until browned. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain then remove all but 2 teaspoons bacon fat from the pot.
Add 1 chopped carrot, 1 chopped celery stalk, and 1 chopped shallot, season with salt and pepper, then saute until the veggies are tender, 8-10 minutes.
Add the cauliflower sauce plus the reserved cup of chicken broth.
plus 4 cups frozen hash browns (no need to thaw.) Place a lid on top of the pot then turn the heat up to medium-high and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Finally, add 2 cups frozen sweet corn and cook until heated through.
Stir the cooked bacon back in, taste and add salt and pepper if necessary, then ladle, serve, and marvel over the fact that you achieved chowder nirvana with CAULIFLOWER!
Creamy and thick with pops of salty bacon, sweet corn, and satisfying potato. Hope you love this as much as I do!
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